Multiple combustion chamber torch igniter and auxiliary fuel spray device arrangement for initiating combustion



Feb. 6, 1951 s. ALLEN ETAL 2,540,642

MULTIPLE COMBUSTION CHAMBER TORCH IGNITER AND AUXILIARY FUEL SPRAY DEVICE ARRANGEMENT FOR INITIATING COMBUSTION Filed Feb. 4/1948 5 Sheets-Sheet vJ.

I nvenlbrs A was Feb. 6, 1951 s. ALLEN ETAL 2,540,642

MULTIPLE COMBUSTION CHAMBER TORCH IGNITER AND AUXILIARY FUEL SPRAY DEVICE ARRANGEMENT FOR INITIATING COMBUSTION Filed Feb. 4, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIOZ SIDNEY fZZi'EW A lnlia z Attorneys I Feb. 6, 1951 s. ALLEN EI'AL 2,

MULTIPLE COMBUSTION CHAMBER TORCH IGNITER AND AUXILIARY FUEL SPRAY DEVICE ARRANGEMENT FOR INITIATING COMBUSTION Filed Feb. 4, 1948 A 5 Sheets-Sheet I5 40x. may

Q Inventors 5/0/1 57 ALLEN M99154. 5mm

Allorneys Patented Feb. 6, 1951 MULTIPLE COMBUSTION CHAMBER TORCH IGNITER AND AUXILIARY FUEL SPRAY DEVICE ARRANGEMENT FOR INITIATING COMBUSTION Sidney Allen and Morris A. Stokes, Coventry, England, assignors to Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited, Coventry, England Application February 4, 1948, Serial No. 6,214 In Great Britain June 19, 1947 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a combustion chamber unit of an internal-combustion turbine plant. of thekind comprising a circle of elongated, longitudinally-extending combustion chambers which are'placed in' communication with ore another by means of lateral passages, each combustion chamber having a normal fuel supply what is commonly called a torch igniter in each chamber, namely, an auxiliary fuel spray device associated with an electric sparking plug, the

auxiliary fuel being delivered to the spray device at a relatively-high pressure i. ve., at a pressure which is high compared with the pressure of the normal fuel supply means when starting up the engine); but such igniters are both costly and heavy, so that it is impracticable to provide one A .foreach chamber.

The present invention consists in providing, for

starting-up purposes, at least one chamber-with a'torch igniter as aforesaid, whilst each of the chambers having no torch igniter is providedwith a relativelyhigh pressure auxiliary fuel spray device, as aforesaid, disposed so that the auxiliary fuel spray in a chamber willbe ignited by the burning mixture passing through one of the lateral passages-from an adjacent chamber in which ignition has alreadybeen' effected, -As soon as all the chambers are ignited the auxiliary fuel spray devices are out off and the chambers are supplied-normally, to, with liquid fuel at the relatively-low-pressurefdiiference, such liquid fuel being vaporised within the chamber to ensure combustion taking place ina relatively-short length of chamber.

It may here be mentioned that a difierent kind of combustion chamber unit is one in which the liquid fuel is normally sprayed into each cham- T -ber at a very high pressure, e. g., at a pressure of 1,000 pounds per square inch or higher, and it is customary with such'a combustion chamber unit provide two opposite chambers with electric sparking plugs or torch igniters disposed in the pathsofthefuel; sprays in the chambers, the 'ilateral passages being placed so that, when combustion is effected in one chamber, the burning gases passing through the'lateral'passages provide flames in the paths of the fuel sprays in the adjacent chambers-thus to complete ignition in all the chambers very rapidly in suitable conitions, i. e., at sea] level. However, at high altitudes the necessary high spray pressures may not be available, and in these conditions difilevlties are often encountered and ignition hecomes uncertain.

In the acccmpanying drawings:

Fig; re 1 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view rf a combrstion chamber unit, for an internalc'rmbustion turbine plant, arranged according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of one form of combustion chamber such as forms part of the combrstion chamber unit of Figure 1, the section being taken on the line 22 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a cross-section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 but omitting the bafile:

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view. to a larger scale. showi g one of the interconner'ting lateral passages and the associated parts between two adjacent ccmbrstion chambers;

Figz-re 5 is a sectional elevation of a suitable auxiliary spray (evicewhen fitted into a combustion chamber casing, this view also being to the same larger scale; and

Figure 6 is a sectional view of a pressure reg rlating valve means adapted to supply fuel to the auxiliary spray devices, when starting up the unit, at a higher pressure than that at which it supplies the fuel to the main burners the figure also showing diagrammatically control means for the fuel supply passage for the auxiliary spray devices.

The drawings show in Figure 1 a combustion chamber unit comprising eleven combustion (hambers H which are substantially similar and ea7h of which may take the form of that shown by Figures 2 and 3, each being an elongated c-ne arranged longitudinally, all being in a circle about the axis of the internal-combustion turbine plant, not shown. Each adjacent pair of combustion chambers is joined together by a lateral passage l3.

In the present instance two opposite cembustion chambers Ila, Ila, are provided with tc-rch igniters indicated at l5, the use of two torch igniters being preferable in case one shot- I fail. As stated, these torch igniters are wellknown in practice, each comprising an electric sparking plug and a passage along which fuel can be delivered at an appropriate high pressure,

' as aforesaid, to be ignited by the spark.

Each of the rest of the combustion chambers H is fitted with an auxiliary spray device, indicated at l1, l1. These should be positioned, as should also the torch igniters, substantially in the plane of the centre lines of the lateral passages |3, |3, i. e., of the centres of the openings l8, l8 for the lateral passages. The torch igniters are shown as being inclined at unsymmetrical angles to the lines joining the centres of the openings, for the lateral passages l3, l3, of the combustion chambers with which the torch igniters are associated, but this is by no means essential. (Figure 2 shows an opening I9 for the torch igniter l5.) It is, however, preferable to dispose each auxiliary fuel spray device l1 symmetrically with respect to the two associated lateral passages.

As stated, each combustion chamber is an elongated one, operating on the vaporizing system, and satisfactory forms of combustion chamber are disclosed in the specifications of United States Patent No. 2,438,858, and of United States patent applications Serial Nos. 727,509 and 781,583. Another satisfactory form for the combustion chamber is that disclosed by United States Patent 2,522,081, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings. This combustion chamber comprises an outer casing of which part is shown at 2| in the drawings, and along and within which air from the compressor of the turbine plant is delivered, from left to right in Figure 2. Disposed in the interior of the outer casing is an inner casing comprising three over-lapping sections 23, 24 and 25 which are radially spaced slightly from one another, as indicated at 26, 26,

to allow some of the diluent air, passing along the space 21, to enter into the interior of the flame chamber provided by the said inner casing, with a view to heat-insulating the inner casing portions 24, 25. The inlet end of the inner casing is closed by a baflle 29 which has in it a circle of holes to receive the inlet ends 30 of J-like pipes 3|, the outlet ends 32 of these being turned round through 180 and directed towards parts of the baflle between the circle of inlet holes therein. The J-like pipes carry the primary air for combustlon purposes, the fuel being injected into their inlet ends 30 from main supply pipes 34, at a relatively-low pressure, e. g., at a pressure up to about ten pounds per square inch. v

Secondary air, for enabling combustion to be substantially completed within the interior of the inner casing, is supplied by fish-tail type nozzles 36 mounted in the batile 29 and having nozzle openings 31 which are shown as extending substantially radially of the combustion chamber and substantially mid-way between the outlet ends 32,

32 of the J-like pipes 3|.

portions 24 of two adjacent combustion chambers The outer casing 2| of one of these has welded or otherwise rigidly secured to it a flange 40 to which is welded or otherwise rigidly secured an externally-threaded sleeve 4|. The other outer casing 2| has rigidly secured to it a similar flange 43 to which is welded or otherwise secured a sleeve 44. A hollow plunger 45, carrying a packing 48 to coact with the bore of the sleeve 44, has a flange 41 which can be drawn up axially, by means of a flanged nut 48 screwed upon the sleeve 4|, against a flange 50, and a sealing ring 5| is interposed between a flange 41 and the adjacent end of the sleeve 4|. The flange 50 is the flange of a tubular portion |3a slidingly fitted, at its end remote from the flange 50, to the adja-- cent inner casing 24. The plunger and flange 41 are fast with a tubular portion |3b slidlngly fitted at its other end to the adjacent inner casing portion24. This construction allows of the expansion of the two combustion chambers as working temperatures are being reached.

In the present instance, openings 53, 53 are provided through the flange and the head of the plunger 45 to allow diluent air in the annular spaces 21, 21 to pass freely therebetween, thus to give a pressure balance and, in addition, to heat-insulate the tube portions I3a, |3b. Openings 55, 55 are provided in the tube portions l3a,

- |3b to allow some of such diluent air to enter the passage l3. V

- Figure 5 shows a preferred form of auxiliary spray device l1 which, in the present instance, is carried by the outer casing portion 2| and extends into the inner casing portion 24. The spray device comprises a body 51 located by means of a nut 58 and an interposed packing 59, and fuel at a relatively-high pressure (as aforesaid) is supplied to the hollow interior of the body through an inlet hole 60 from a known form of supply coupling. The other end of the body has in it 1 a plug 62 with a central spray hole 63 communieating with the interior of a cup 64 provided with a plurality of tangentially disposed holes 65, such that fuel in the hollow interior of the body 51 entering the cup 65 will swirl in the interior thereof on its way to the spray nozzle 63 from which it emerges in the formof a fine spray.

The body 51 is protected by a tubular guard 61 having an outlet opening 68, for the fuel spray, and an inlet opening 69 through which cooling air enters from the space 21 to mingle with the spray jet.

Figure 6 shows a pressure regulating valve means to which fuel is supplied along a pipe line 12 from a pump (not shown) driven by the turbine plant. The plunger 12b of this valve means may be set to open, say, at a pressure of fifty pounds per square inch, but it offers a pressure drop of about fifty pounds per square inch, due mainly to the restriction provided by the plunger coacting with the small ports 12a. Consequently, when startin up the plant, the fiow along the pipe line 12 gradually increases, and it is only when a pressure in excess of fifty pounds per square inch is reached that the valve begins to deliver fuel from the outlets 13, 13 to the main fuel supply pipes 34, at a pressure just above atmospheric, and reaching the maximum, say, of ten pounds per square inch in idling conditionsin which conditions, it will be appreciated, the air pressure in the combustion chamber is substantially only atmospheric. As will be well understood, when the .plant is accelerated from idling conditions, the air pressure in the combustion chamber rises very considerably, and naturally the injection pressure of the fuel must always be in excess of the air pressure, being approximately, say, 15 pounds per square inch in excess thereof in full throttle conditions.

In the present instance, however, the supply chamber 15 of the valve is additionally connected to a pipe line 16 by means'of which the auxiliary spray devices and the two torch igniters l5 can be supplied with fuel when starting up. The

- supply passage 16 is shown as being provided with 19 is closed (when starting up), the valve I1 is automatically opened and fuel is immediately delivered along the pipe line 16 to the various auxiliary spray devices I! and to the two torch igniters, such fuel being at a pressure which increases as the delivery along the pipe 12 increases, 1. e., as the speed of the plant and the pump increase. When the fuel pressure supplied to the chamber 15 (and to the auxiliary spraydevices) exceeds the fifty pounds per square inch, the main fuel supply to the combustion chambers II will also take place along the pipes 34, as previously stated, at the relatively low pressure. Once the plant is operating the ignition coil 19 is disconnected and the valve 11 automatically closes, leaving the com- 'bustion chambers to be supplied with fuel to the inlet ends of the J-like pipes in a usual manher.

When starting up, the flaming mixture from the two torch igniters l5 quickly effects ignition of the main fuel supply in the two chambers Ila, and on combustion taking place in these the flaming mixture passing through the adjacent lateral passages I3 immediately ignites the auxiliary fuel sprays from the devices I! in the next chambers II, and so on.

By the invention the whole of the combustion chamber unit can be set into operation in a very short time, and ignition is effectively ensured whether the turbine plant is on the ground or operating at high altitudes.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A liquid fuel combustion chamber unit, for an internal-combustion turbine plant, prising a circle of elongated, longitudinally extending combustion chambers, means providing lateral passages placing said chambers in communication with one another, each of said chambers having a normalfuel supply means to operate at a relatively-low pressure which is above the air pressure in said chamber, at least one of said chambers having a torch igniter, and each of said chambers which have no torch igniter having an auxiliary fuel spray device, and means for supplying said torch igniter and said auxiliary fuel spray devices with fuel at a relatively-high pressure, compared with that at which the main fuel supply is being delivered to said chambers, for starting up purposes, said auxiliary fuel spray devices being disposed so that the auxiliary fuel spray in a chamber will be ignited by the burning mixture passing through one of the lateral passages from an adjacent chamber in which ignition has already been effected.

2. A liquid fuel combustion chamber unit, for an internal-combustion turbine plant, comprising a circle of elongated, longitudinally extendcom- .eral passages placing said chambers in communication with one another, each of said chambers having a normal fuel supply means including a pressure-regulating valve means adapted to provide a predetermined pressure drop whereby to supply fuel at a relatively-low pressure which is above the air pressure in the said chamber at least one of said chambers havin a torch igniter and each of said chambers which have no torch igniter having an auxiliary fuel spray device, and means for supplying said torch igniter and said auxiliary fuel spray devices from the inlet side of said pressure-regulating valve means with fuel at a relatively high pressure, compared with that at which the main fuel supplyis being delivered to said chambers, for starting up purposes, said auxiliary fuel spray devices being disposed so that the auxiliary fuel spray in a chamber will be ignited by the burning mixture passing through one of the lateral passages from an adjacent chamber in which ignition has already been effected.

3. A liquid fuel combustion chamber unit, for an internal-combustion turbine plant, comprising a circle of elongated, longitudinally extending combustion chambers, means providin later- 7 al passages placing said chambers in communication with one another, each of said chambers having a normal fuel spray device, at least one of said chambers having a torch igniter, and each of said chambers which have no torch igniter having an auxiliary fuel spray device, a

fuel supply means, a pressure-regulating valve to supply said normal fuel spray devices with fuel at a relatively-low pressure, which is above the pressure in said chambers, for normal running, said auxiliary fuel spray devices being disposed so that the auxiliary fuel spray in a chamber will be ignited during starting up by the burning mixture passing through one of the lateral passages from an adjacent chamber in which ignition has already been effected.

4. A liqud fuel combustion chamber unit, according toclaim 3, and including an electricallyoperable valve controlling the supply of fuel to said torch igniter and said auxiliary spray devices, said electrically-operable valve having an operating winding in circuit with the ignition means by which the circuit of the torch igniter is supplied.

SIDNEY ALLEN. MORRIS A. STOKES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,404,335 Whittle July 16, 1946 ing combustion chambers, means providing lat- 

